Naruto: Portrait of Team Seven
by YenGirl
Summary: Sai comes up with an idea for the best Christmas present ever. Or so he thought. Gift fic for fanofthisfiction and MLLu.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes:** Seasons Greetings, everyone! Here's my annual offering for Christmas, a 2-parter. Enjoy :)

**Summary:** Sai comes up with an idea for the best Christmas present ever. Or so he thought.

**Warnings:** Spoilers for Shippuden. Some angst, a little fluff and a minor cliffhanger. AU because Asuma and Neji both survived the Fourth Great Ninja War.

**Dedication:** This story is dedicated to **fanofthisfiction** and **MLLu** who are talented writers and wonderfully supportive of their fellow writers.

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

\- Story Start -

_Four weeks before Christmas._

As was his usual practice, Sai woke up with the dawn and went for a morning run. The sun was just peeping over the horizon and the Leaf Village was still very quiet, with only a handful of people out and about. He passed by Maito Gai doing sixty miles an hour on his red wheelchair, skidding around a corner on two wheels and shouting a Very Good Morning as he whizzed past.

Sai returned his greeting and continued running, a corner of his lips turning up. It looked like nothing could dim that Jounin's zest for life, not even his damaged leg.

Half an hour later, Sai had showered, breakfasted and was looking forward to starting his new art project. He had two days off after his last mission to the Land of Rice, and didn't want to waste a moment of it.

Who knew when he would get more than half a day's rest again?

The life of a ninja was unpredictable, what more an ANBU-trained operative.

It didn't take long at all. In less than half an hour - minutes, really - he had sketched the outline of four figures on the canvas. A larger figure with broad shoulders and three slightly smaller ones in front.

Sai took a couple of steps back to check for size and balance. Satisfied, he started mixing his paints. The eyes were important so he decided to focus on them first.

How did that saying go again?

Ah yes, the eyes were the windows to one's soul. It was important that he got them exactly right.

\- o -

Ninety minutes later, Captain Yamato's black almond shaped eyes stared back at him. They looked rather intimidating without his nose and mouth. Not that Sai was intimidated, of course.

By noon, Naruto and Sakura's eyes were done as well.

Sai wanted to continue, but forced himself to put down his brush. It was time for a break. He rolled his head from side to side to stretch his neck muscles and raised his arms high above his head to ease his shoulder muscles. Then he went to his kitchenette to reheat lunch - one of the many bento boxes in his freezer, containing rice, fish and pickles. He ate while perched on his windowsill, enjoying the view of the village and the slight breeze on his face.

It was a beautiful day.

\- o -

By evening, Yamato, Naruto, Sakura and himself smiled back at Sai. Sakura and Naruto's smiles were the biggest. Sai loved seeing them smile. He was sandwiched between them and smiling too, but he didn't know if he smiled like that in real life.

No matter. It was only a painting after all.

Putting down his brush and palette, he did his stretching routine again, wincing a bit. He tended to tighten his shoulder muscles whenever he focused on painting small details. Their faces had taken more time than he thought, but the results were quite worth it, if he did say so himself.

\- o -

_Three weeks before Christmas..._

The painting was going well. So well in fact that he had already completed the four of them, down to the tiny silver flecks in Sakura's green eyes and the small curved scar below Naruto's lower lip. He had also gone on two missions, one solo and the other with Team Seven. Both Naruto and Sakura were busy with their own training and studying so Sai was glad of the chance to catch up with them on the two day mission.

Taking a few steps backwards, he stared at the painting with a critical eye. He had bought a bigger canvas than what he normally used so there was still a lot of white space all around. That was alright; he could paint in a background, maybe walls and part of a decorative ceiling.

Then his gaze went to the white space on either side of Naruto and Sakura and he frowned. Maybe he could add a table with food and drinks - and cup noodles - on Naruto's side and a Christmas tree on Sakura's.

Maybe. That made him frown. He was unaccustomed to being uncertain about his paintings.

Should he have painted the four of them bigger instead?

Or done a close up portrait?

White teeth dug into a lower lip. There was still time to start another one. But he had done their eyes so carefully. And he quite liked how their smiles had turned out, even his own.

Oh well. This was meant to be a Christmas present for the four of them so a tree and some decorations like streamers and balloons would be appropriate. Maybe even a fireplace!

The paintbrush was twirled between long and nimble fingers before it was set down with a sigh.

Sai had a briefing with the Rokudaime in half an hour and a barbecue with Team Ten tonight. He had to attend the briefing. He didn't want to attend the barbecue, but wasn't given a chance to say 'No' either.

"Don't you _dare _say no," Sakura told him just this morning.

"Yeah, join us! It'll be fun!" Naruto chipped in, blue eyes sparkling as he rubbed his hands together.

"You need to get out more, Sai. You know, socialise more," Sakura continued, apparently quite the expert at making friends. "And don't you dare bring a single self help book or I'll grill it!"

And so, Sai attended both the briefing _and_ the barbecue.

When he returned to his apartment later that night, his stomach was slightly distended and his clothes smelled of smoke. But Naruto was right, it had been fun and Ino, who sat next to him, had kept him plied with food, even snitching choice pieces of barbecued meat from right under Choji's nose.

Oh, and Sakura had confiscated his book. She didn't grill it only because it belonged to the library.

Sai went to take a much needed shower before working on his painting for the next two hours even though it was late. There were a few unexpected additions he wanted to make.

\- o -

_Two weeks before Christmas..._

Sai went on two missions - an A ranked one with Team Gai to retrieve a stolen artifact, and the next day, a C ranked one to supervise three excitable genin escorting a rich merchant and his family to the Land of Rivers and back. He submitted his report for both missions, cleaned and repacked his gear, took a shower and then reheated another frozen bento box for dinner.

His eyes kept returning to the covered portrait on his easel, but there was no point in doing anything tonight. He had the next three days off so there was still time. Actually, he had thought it was already complete, but sometime during the second mission, he had come up with a few more things he wanted to add.

\- o -

_One week before Christmas..._

Sai attended another two briefings and went on another mission, this time with Team Eight. When he returned, he finally realised how much time he was spending on just one portrait. He kept thinking it was complete only to find that it wasn't.

He was starting to worry if it would ever be complete.

\- o -

_Christmas Eve..._

Sai had one more decision to make about his portrait and was ashamed to admit that - despite his rigorous ANBU training to make snap and informed decisions and not second guess them - he had been putting it off. But he didn't have time to decide now. He was going out for pre-Christmas drinks with Naruto, Sakura and Captain Yamato.

\- o -

It was almost midnight when Sai let himself into his silent apartment. Naruto had gotten drunk, so Sai and Sakura had taken him home. It was the first time in a long, long while that Naruto had spoken _that person's_ name.

It made Naruto sad, and it made Sakura sad.

It just made Sai _mad._

Now though, he just felt... empty. His clothes smelled of cigarette smoke so he went to take a shower, head spinning slightly from the two bottles of beer he had drunk. Dressed in clean clothes, he went to stand in front of the portrait, unaware of his lips turning down.

He had originally planned to paint Team Seven with Captain Yamato at the back, and Naruto, Sakura and himself in front.

The perfect team.

But because there was quite a lot of white space and he had started early enough, he had added Team Ten after the barbecue so Asuma-sensei stood beside Yamato and in front of him were Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. Then after the mission with Team Gai, Sai had added Gai-sensei, Neji, Lee and Tenten. After the mission with Team Eight, he had added Kurenai-sensei, Hinata, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru.

They filled up the canvas really well, he had to admit. Everyone was there. Everyone looked happy. Maito Gai and Lee both had double thumbs up and matching tooth sparkles. Akamaru looked like he was happily barking. Kakashi had his eye smile on.

It was meant to be a portrait of Team Seven. It had expanded to become so much more than that, so much more than Sai realised.

It was finally complete... and yet he knew it wasn't because there was still someone missing from the portrait. Someone who had gotten a full pardon for his crimes and was now touring the world, doing mysterious things for the Leaf Village.

Sai exhaled forcefully, feeling his throat... ache. He was damned if he put _him_ in. Damned if he didn't. He clenched his hands into fists, not even feeling the bite of his short nails digging into his palms.

If only he hadn't gone out with them tonight.

If only they hadn't ordered beer - who knew Naruto was such a lightweight?

If only he hadn't gotten drunk then Sai could have continued pretending that they were the perfect Team Seven. He could have continued pretending that it had always been them, and that he, Sai, wasn't just a replacement for someone who had left the team but still resided in Naruto and Sakura's hearts.

What would they say if they saw this painting which had everyone in it except their teammate?

Of course, Sai needn't show it to them. He could just keep it here, as a Christmas gift to himself.

Or he could burn it and pretend he had never painted it at all even though the very thought of destroying so many happy faces was a painful one.

Or he could do the right thing and add Sasuke Uchiha. In fact, there was a space for him right there, between Naruto and Sakura.

Yes.

With steady hands, Sai began mixing paints, trying to get the exact blue grey shade that was Sasuke's shirt, the one with the over-sized collar.

\- Chapter End -

**A/N:** Thank you for reading! One more chapter to go, please leave a review if you enjoyed it :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Notes:** Happy New Year, everyone! Enjoy the final chapter :)

\- Chapter Start -

_Ninety minutes later..._

Sai was standing before the painting, literally watching paint dry, when a knock at the door caught him off-guard. He started, eyes going to the clock on the wall. It was almost two in the morning.

"Who..." he paused to clear his throat. "Who is it?"'

The knock came again, louder this time. Knowing that the neighbours wouldn't be pleased, he quickly grabbed the dust sheet and draped it partway over the painting, careful of the still wet area.

When he opened the door Naruto and Sakura trooped in, the latter holding out his satchel.

"You left this at Naruto's apartment," Sakura told him with a tired smile.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to come all the way now. It's late." Still, Sai accepted the bag with relief. It was a mark of how distracted he had been that he hadn't even realised it was missing.

"Sakura said we could wait til tomorrow, but I insisted." Naruto's face was pale and a bit pinched, but he looked sober and his blue eyes focused once more.

Sai was relieved to see he had showered and changed his clothes especially when Naruto came closer to clap him on the shoulder.

"So... Sai, I'm sorry for that little episode earlier! I uh, wasn't myself."

"Naruto can't hold his liquor," Sakura added in a contrite tone. "Not even beer."

Sai could tell from the guilt in their eyes that they felt bad about bringing up Sasuke in front of him.

"It's alright," he said and pasted one of his fake smiles on his face. "We'll just have fruit juice next time."

It wasn't alright, but what else could he say?

That he had finally realised his importance in Team Seven?

"Juice and ramen," Naruto agreed with a self-deprecating smile.

"I'll make sure of that," Sakura added with a smile that was too bright. Her eyes were much too bright as well. Almost... wet.

"It's alright," Sai repeated, still with that fake smile stretching his lips. "Thank you for returning my bag. It's very late so-"

"Hey, I smell paint," Sakura interrupted him. "Were you in the midst of painting something?"

Faster than Sai could blink, she had darted in front of his easel and was gingerly lifting a corner of the dust sheet.

"Wait!" Sai was still hampered by the heavy hand on his shoulder. His heart skipped a beat when Sakura whipped off the cloth and let it fall to the floor behind her. "Naruto, you've _got_ to see this!"

"Careful!" Sai's voice was sharper than he meant to. "The paint is still wet."

Neither of them answered him or even heard him. Naruto was already standing beside Sakura, both of them were gawking at the painting. He saw their eyes, wide with wonder, rove all over the canvas, murmuring names and pointing with their fingers.

Sai linked his fingers together, willing them to stop trembling. It was meant to be a secret, a surprise. But since it no longer mattered, he tuned out their whispers and turned around. Then he realised that his front door was still open and went to close it. His fingers lingered on the lock, gaze fixed on the door without seeing it.

He started when a hand landed on his shoulder and another on his arm.

"Sai?"

Naruto and Sakura had spoken in unison. Releasing the door handle, Sai turned around, blinking a few times until Sakura's wide green eyes came into focus.

"Was that painting meant to be a surprise? I'm sorry if it was and we spoiled it." Her voice was gentler than usual.

Sai swallowed, shook his head.

"It's OK," he managed.

"It's not. Why did you do that last minute change?" Naruto's voice was subdued.

Sai's eyes widened in shock before he quickly blanked his face.

"What change?"

"Sasuke."

Sai's eyes darted from Naruto to the portrait and then back to Naruto.

"His shirt is still damp," Sakura explained. "_And_ it's that exact colour on your palette. And your brush."

"Ah." Sai looked away. "There was just a bit I had to touch up for his sleeve, that's all."

"You're still a terrible liar," Sakura pointed out. "Sasuke's hair is also damp."

Right.

Sai dropped his gaze, distantly noting that his fingers were still trembling.

"Sai." Both of Naruto's hands, large and warm, clamped onto his shoulders. "Look at me."

Almost against his will, Sai looked up to see those blue eyes on him. Narrowed, focused and unblinking. When Naruto gave you his undivided attention like that, it was as if no one else existed in the world but you.

"Why did you paint Sasuke in at the last minute?" He demanded. "More importantly," those blue eyes grew shiny, moisture pooling in the corners, "why the _Hell_ did you paint him _over yourself?"_

Sai swallowed, wrenching his gaze away.

"It was because we talked about him earlier, wasn't it?" Sakura asked. "At the bar."

Sai shook his head.

"It was because," his paused to clear his throat, aware that his whole body was trembling now, not just his hands. And he knew they couldn't miss that because Naruto was still gripping his shoulders and Sakura was still clutching his arm. "It was because he's your teammate."

"And you're not?" Sakura asked. Oh God, her eyes _were_ getting shiny.

Sai shook his head.

"I'm just the replacement," he choked out, right before he was shaken to within an inch of his life, head snapping back and forth. He blinked when the motion stopped and found himself staring into furious blue eyes.

"You idiot!" Naruto exploded. Sai was dismayed to see more tears pooling in his eyes. "I oughta punch your lights out!"

"Me too!" Sakura said and held up her free hand, forming a fist.

Sai quickly forced a smile, knowing the immense strength they wielded.

"Please don't, you two. I don't think my apartment or myself would survive a combined attack."

There probably wouldn't be anything left of him afterward.

"Then you paint yourself in again," Naruto demanded, breathing hard. "Go on, do that now. You should be in the painting too."

Sakura nodded silently, her eyes no less demanding.

Sai shook his head, tried for a smile and failed so he shrugged instead.

"I can't. There isn't any space left," he said simply.

"No! There must be!" With an angry snort, Sakura dashed away her tears and stalked back to the painting. Naruto and Sai followed, the latter hoping she wasn't going to put her fist right through it.

"Sakura, there isn't any-"

"There!" She pointed. "Paint yourself there!"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Naruto said and turned to Sai expectantly. "Go on! Do it now!"

Sai nodded and picked up the paintbrush, but his hand was shaking so badly he had to put it down again.

"Give me a few minutes," he said. His breath was hitching. His vision was blurring. He turned away, intending to go to the bathroom, but a hand gripped his shoulder and spun him around.

"Sai. Oh God, I didn't mean to - c'mere." A pair of strong arms wrapped around Sai and yanked him against a fresh smelling shirt.

"Sai, you're such an idiot!" Sakura leaned into him from the back, her arms going around them both.

Being hugged like this, front and back, was a novelty for Sai. Naruto and Sakura felt rather like twin heat generators, engulfing him in heat that was almost _too hot._ They were suffocating him... but he didn't care. Shoulders slumping, he buried his face in Naruto's broad shoulder and tried to remember how to breathe.

"Don't _ever_ think you're just a replacement, Sai," Naruto said in his ear.

"You're more than just our teammate," Sakura whispered in his other ear. "You're our friend, too."

"Our good friend," Naruto agreed. "And if you _ever_ paint yourself out like that again, I'll kill you."

"Me too," Sakura said.

"G-got it," Sai choked out, tears leaking from his eyes as he clung onto them.

\- o -

_A week later..._

Sai's Christmas portrait wasn't hung at his apartment or Naruto's or Sakura's or even Captain Yamato's. It had found a new home in the corridor outside the Hokage's office 'so that more people can view and enjoy it' according to Kakashi Hatake, the Rokudaime.

He was right.

Everyone who saw it had nothing but praise for it. A few of them did mention that Sai should have been standing on Naruto's other side instead of sitting cross legged on the floor in front of everyone, smiling with both hands forming the Victory sign. But as the painter, of course he had the prerogative to paint himself anywhere and anyhow he chose.

The most important thing was that everyone was included in the portrait, even Sasuke Uchiha, and that everyone was smiling.

\- Story End -

**A/N:** Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the outcome, and if you did, please leave a review. Have a great 2020!


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